Yevgeny Prigozhin is using the notion that Wagner’s group is responsible for Bakhmut’s capture to try “to gain an absurdly high level of influence over Russian military actions in Ukraine,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) notes. .
He claimed that Wagner’s group was the best army in the world, and that the regular Russian army was second only to Wagner.
Prigozhin claimed that each of his 6,000 mercenaries could handle an army company, so Wagner could command a force of 600,000, about twice the number of soldiers expected to be fighting in Ukraine.
Prigozhin suggested that he asked to have 200,000 troops under his command in Ukraine and claimed that if he had such forces, “Wagner” could advance from 50 to 150 km in various directions.
Leader Wagner stated that he did not receive this power because he feared that such a power would allow him to do whatever he pleased and theoretically “come to Moscow in tanks.”
It seems that he is no longer afraid of the Kremlin
Probably, Prigozhin will intensify his efforts to establish himself as a totalitarian figure capable of achieving a military victory in Ukraine, ISV believes. He called for full martial law, several waves of conscription, and a large-scale economic mobilization of Russian industry to save Russia.
He also suggested that Russia should become a totalitarian regime similar to North Korea and close all borders for several years in order to achieve victory in Ukraine.
Prigozhin is likely to take incredibly radical political positions on the war in Ukraine, in contrast to Vladimir Putin’s relatively risk-free approach to decision-making in that war.
Leader Wagner has serious political ambitions and plans to establish himself as a central figure in Russia’s ultra-nationalist community, ISW analysts say.
The fact that he won over Bakhmut probably pushed Prigozhin to pursue those ambitions in a more outspoken way, without worrying about the internal upheaval it might cause or the danger he put himself in the Kremlin’s opinion, he added, citing the source.
Source: Hot News
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